Young people, physical activity and ‘active play’ promotion in Canada

Globally, there is a growing urgency to address children’s obesity. Some campaigns have begun to focus on ‘active play’ to promote children’s physical activity. This chapter identifies several assumptions underlying such campaigns: 1) playing ought to contribute to children’s health; 2) playing is a proxy for physical activity, assumed to be pleasurable for all children; 3) physical activity is a symbol of Canadian national identity, invoked to promote particular ways of playing sport. Future research could examine how play is used to promote physical activity and ask whether benefits outweigh the possible unintended consequences of promoting play mainly as health-related.